(Image: King County Prosecutor)
A report from the King County Prosecutor’s office shows the region’s surge in gun violence only got worse over the summer.
According to the report, shots fired incidents climbed above 1,000 for the year through August, a 48% increase compared to the three-year average for King County. There were 73 shooting victims who died in the first nine months of the year and 283 were injured — both 70% above recent levels.
The shootings continue to affect communities disproportionately. “Of the 356 shooting victims in Q1-Q3 2021, 85% were male (302); 32% were between the ages of 18-24 (112); and 81% were people of color (289),” the report reads. “Similar to previous years, 50% of the shooting victims, both fatal and non-fatal, were Black or African American (178).”
In July, CHS reported on Seattle officials responding to a weekend of deadly gun violence in the city with calls for strengthening community-led programs and the police department’s budget, forgoing past efforts like emphasis patrols and greater on the street presence of officers. In the meantime, June, July, and August only strengthened the ongoing trends seen across the country during the pandemic of a surge in gun violence.
Last month in the Central District, community groups criticized officials and organized their own security in response to a shots fired incident near a Judkins Park filled with families and children for an afternoon of little league football.
Seattle’s candidates for mayor have both won approval from The Alliance for Gun Responsibility.
Bruce Harrell says he will create a role in his office “to coordinate action and intervention” and work with law enforcement, while investing more in “effective community-led programs that have street-level knowledge and relationships to defuse potentially violent situations.” Harrell says he also supports spending on “Automatic Gunfire Locator Systems” and would support Seattle’s “fight at the state and federal levels for stronger gun laws.”
Lorena González points to her record emphasizing local gun laws including safe storage and increased penalties for not reporting a lost or stolen firearm. She also said she would champion spending like the $10.4 million earmarked this year for “community safety programs to address the epidemic of gun violence harming our communities.” González also says state and federal advocacy and local legal efforts must continue.
On that front, the candidates for City Attorney have divergent stances. Ann Davison says her goals include increased prosecution of misdemeanors in Seattle including many firearms related charges. Nicole Thomas-Kennedy says her office would push more resources from prosecuting misdemeanor crimes as more funding is shifted to city programs formed to address safety and equity. Thomas-Kennedy also plans to be active on the litigation front, using the city attorney’s civil division to defend local laws including the city’s firearm-related legislation.
The full King County Prosecutor report is below.
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Gonzales would obviously do nothing but virtue signal and wave her hands like she has done for the last 6 year. Thomas-Kennedy would push the city off the cliff it is already headed toward to show how radical she is so she gets more followers on Twitter. It is time for change.
Knowing Seattle, eliminating the police will be on the agenda. Or keeping them so demoralized that they just end up being a figure head versus any real protection for citizens of any color.
I’m so disappointed with defunding the police. We’ve decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater and now we end up with no real police and rise in crime and most likely organized crime. Especially where salaries are not keeping up with the cost of living anywhere in the USA.
We’re in a world of hurt and I don’t believe any Mayoral candidate is going to fix this issue. I anticipate that the division and hate will grow and our society will decline into oblivion. I’m not optimistic about Seattle’s future. I’m even less optimistic about the USA future in general. I’m so sad about it all.
Bezos has a rocket ship and I don’t, so blowup everything. It’s breath taking that people’s egos are truly the root of all of societies problems, and yet it’s not considered the number one priority to get rid of it as a species. Instead we double down on maintaining egos, looking at what others have, get angry and jealous, it’s disgusting.